Morning and Evening Devotional with C. H. Spurgeon May 19, 2026

Morning

Scripture (ESV): “I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves.” — Ecclesiastes 10:7

Morning Devotional

Upstarts frequently usurp the highest places, while the truly great pine in obscurity. This is a riddle in providence whose solution will one day gladden the hearts of the upright; but it is so common a fact, that none of us should murmur if it should fall to our own lot. When our Lord was upon earth, although he is the Prince of the kings of the earth, yet he walked the footpath of weariness and service as the Servant of servants: what wonder is it if his followers, who are princes of the blood, should also be looked down upon as inferior and contemptible persons? The world is upside down, and therefore, the first are last and the last first. See how the servile sons of Satan lord it in the earth! What a high horse they ride! How they lift up their horn on high! Haman is in the court, while Mordecai sits in the gate; David wanders on the mountains, while Saul reigns in state; Elijah is complaining in the cave while Jezebel is boasting in the palace; yet who would wish to take the places of the proud rebels? and who, on the other hand, might not envy the despised saints? When the wheel turns, those who are lowest rise, and the highest sink. Patience, then, believer, eternity will right the wrongs of time.

Let us not fall into the error of letting our passions and carnal appetites ride in triumph, while our nobler powers walk in the dust. Grace must reign as a prince, and make the members of the body instruments of righteousness. The Holy Spirit loves order, and he therefore sets our powers and faculties in due rank and place, giving the highest room to those spiritual faculties which link us with the great King; let us not disturb the divine arrangement, but ask for grace that we may keep under our body and bring it into subjection. We were not new created to allow our passions to rule over us, but that we, as kings, may reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom of spirit, soul, and body, to the glory of God the Father.

Morning Reflection

Spurgeon addresses the painful reality that the world often seems upside down. The proud are exalted while the faithful are overlooked. Yet he reminds us that this is temporary. Eternity will set all things right. In the meantime, we are called to keep grace on the throne of our own hearts.

Morning Nectared Goad

Is there any area in your life where you feel overlooked or undervalued? How might remembering that “eternity will right the wrongs of time” change how you respond?

Evening

Scripture (ESV): “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.’” — 1 Kings 19:4

Evening Devotional

It was a remarkable thing that the man who was never to die, for whom God had ordained an infinitely better lot, the man who should be carried to heaven in a chariot of fire, and be translated, that he should not see death—should thus pray, “Let me die, I am no better than my fathers.” We have here a memorable proof that God does not always answer prayer in kind, though he always does in effect. He gave Elias something better than that which he asked for, and thus really heard and answered him. Strange was it that the lion-hearted Elijah should be so depressed by Jezebel’s threat as to ask to die, and blessedly kind was it on the part of our heavenly Father that he did not take his desponding servant at his word. There is a limit to the doctrine of the prayer of faith. We are not to expect that God will give us everything we choose to ask for. We know that we sometimes ask, and do not receive, because we ask amiss. If we ask for that which is not promised—if we run counter to the spirit which the Lord would have us cultivate—if we ask contrary to his will, or to the decrees of his providence—if we ask merely for the gratification of our own ease, and without an eye to his glory, we must not expect that we shall receive. Yet, when we ask in faith, nothing doubting, if we receive not the precise thing asked for, we shall receive an equivalent, and more than an equivalent, for it. As one remarks, “If the Lord does not pay in silver, he will in gold; and if he does not pay in gold, he will in diamonds.” If he does not give you precisely what you ask for, he will give you that which is tantamount to it, and that which you will greatly rejoice to receive in lieu thereof. Be then, dear reader, much in prayer, and make this evening a season of earnest intercession, but take heed what you ask.

Evening Reflection

Spurgeon shows us that even the strongest believers can fall into deep discouragement. Elijah asked to die, yet God gave him something far better. This reminds us that God is not obligated to answer our prayers exactly as we ask — He often answers with something wiser and kinder than we know how to request.

Evening Nectared Goad

Have you ever asked God for something that, in hindsight, would not have been best for you? How does knowing that God sometimes withholds what we ask for in order to give us something better affect your trust in Him?

Tie-In

The morning teaches us to keep grace reigning in our hearts even when life feels unjust. The evening shows us that even in our lowest moments, God is still working for our good — sometimes by not giving us what we desperately want. Together they remind us that the same Lord who calls us to patient endurance is also the One who knows how to give us better than we ask.